Armenia
The institutions that make up the centre of government (CoG) play a crucial role in the policymaking process and help to ensure that government decisions are timely, evidence-informed, strategic and consistent. Despite this prominent role, the CoG often has the reputation of being somewhat opaque in terms of its structure and ways of working. This report presents an overview of the role and functions of the CoG of five European Neighbourhood Policy East countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – from a comparative perspective, both with respect to each other and in comparison with CoGs in OECD and EU countries. The report explores the CoG’s role in policy co-ordination, how it supports quality decision making, its contribution to strategic planning and its role in managing European integration issues. The report highlights strengths and challenges in the ways that the CoG institutions operate in the five countries and suggests areas for which policy dialogue and exchange of experience with OECD and EU Members could help to enhance outcomes.
Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing a humanitarian, social and economic crisis for the Ukrainian people. The consequences of this full-scale military invasion are disrupting the global supply of commodities, sharply increasing food and energy prices, and threating the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries with established commercial and financial ties with the economies of Russia and Ukraine appear to be particularly vulnerable.
Assessing the Impact of Russia’s War against Ukraine on Eastern Partner Countries investigates the exposure of Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to the economic shocks caused by the war, and in particular through the impact that the conflict is having on inflation, migration, remittances, investment and trade.
This report is published as part of the multi-country project “EU4Business: From Policies to Action – phase 2”, implemented in the Eastern Partnership with the financial support of the European Union within the EU4Business initiative.
European Neighbourhood East countries have been actively engaged in improving service delivery for citizens and businesses for some time. Some have opted for flagship initiatives (often with large-scale, one-stop shop solutions), some for digitalisation of services, while some have taken an incremental approach towards the service delivery modernisation process. This comparative paper outlines the state of play in the design and delivery of public administrative services in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Public administrative services cover the vast array of interactions with (and within) government: making enquiries, applications, registrations and payments, and receiving information, documentation, decisions and funds. These contacts allow service users (citizens, businesses and non-governmental organisations) to exercise rights, access entitlements, execute obligations and achieve ambitions. As well as the description and analysis of the general service delivery framework(s), institutional set-up and practical implementation, this paper presents a comparative analysis of a set of life events and highlights inspiring practices from the different countries.
Since the 1990’s, the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) have made great progress in pursuing economic development that is also environmentally sustainable. The countries, in collaboration with the GREEN Action Task Force hosted by the OECD, has developed a number of policies aiming to improve environmental quality and social well-being, while creating opportunities for strong economic growth and decent jobs in the region.
This report was prepared as the OECD contribution to the ninth “Environment for Europe” (EfE) Conference (5-7 October 2022). In this context, this report aims to: (i) take stock of progress on policy developments towards a green economy in the EECCA countries; (ii) showcase selected contributions from of the Green Action Task Force that integrate environmental and climate considerations into development pathways of the EECCA countries, and mobilise finance for action; and (iii) provide an outlook for the future, including priority actions that the Task Force in co-operation with the EECCA countries should take to enhance the momentum for green economy transition in the region.
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This pilot monitoring report assesses Armenia's anti-corruption reforms and practices based on the criteria to test the new methodology for the 5th round of monitoring under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan. The report analyses Armenia’s steps in building anti-corruption institutions and Armenia’s measures to detect, investigate and prosecute high-profile corruption cases. The report also identifies areas for improvement and provides recommendations.
This International Energy Agency (IEA) in-depth review of the energy policies of Armenia follows the same format as that used for the IEA peer reviews of member countries. This in-depth review of Armenia was conducted under the auspices of the EU4Energy programme, which is being implemented by the IEA and the European Union, along with the Energy Community Secretariat and the Energy Charter Secretariat.
Armenia depends on imports to meet much of its energy needs, particularly natural gas from the Russian Federation. It is one of the few ex-Soviet republics to avoid significant energy subsidies, and it is the only country in the Caucasus region to possess a nuclear power plant.
In January 2021, the government approved a new Energy Sector Development Strategic Programme that sets the path for the sector’s transition through 2040. Key government priorities include promoting maximum use of the country’s potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency; increasing power transmission links with Armenia’s neighbours; gradually liberalising the domestic electricity market; and maintaining and, possibly, increasing the role of nuclear power.
This report assesses the energy sector and related challenges facing Armenia and proposes policy recommendations to improve sector governance, energy efficiency, and security of supply.
Good governance of public agencies requires the application of a set of regulatory and managerial tools to find the right balance between autonomy of agencies and adequate oversight from portfolio ministries and other actors. This paper provides insights from EU and OECD good practices, with a detailed analysis of EU acquis requirements for national regulatory agencies. New empirical evidence shows that public administrations in the Western Balkans and European Neighbourhood area lack clear policies and regulations for agency governance and misinterpret the EU acquis. This leads to a proliferation of agencies, duplication of functions and waste of public resources, a lack of accountability to portfolio ministries and generally a governance vacuum. Implementation of government policy is blocked and democratic accountability generally undermined. Finally, recommendations for better organisation of public administration are provided, based on the empirical analysis and lessons learned from SIGMA's engagement in such reforms.
На основе стандартной методологии ОЭСР в исследовании приведены количественные оценки мер государственной поддержки как на потребление, так и на производство угля, нефти, нефтепродуктов, природного газа, а также электрической и тепловой энергии, производимой на основе этих видов ископаемого топлива. В докладе представлены основные выводы анализа механизмов субсидирования ископаемых видов топлива в шести странах Восточного партнерства (ВП) Европейского союза: Армении, Азербайджане, Беларуси, Грузии, Республике Молдова и Украине. В исследовании обновлены оценки публикации 2018 года «Энергетические субсидии в странах Восточного партнерства ЕС» с представлением данных и оценок за 2016-2019 годы. Анализ сфокусирован на оценке двух основных типов субсидий на ископаемые виды топлива: прямых трансфертах средств производителям и потребителям и налоговых расходах. В докладе кратко рассмотрены меры политики в области налогообложения и ценообразования в энергосекторе, которые непосредственно или косвенно влияют на динамику субсидий в этом регионе. В приложениях к докладу приведены детальные оценки всех мер поддержки для каждой из шести стран.
Based on the OECD standard methodology, the study presents quantitative estimates of government support to consumers and producers of coal, oil and related petroleum products and natural gas, and electricity and heat generated from these fossil fuels. This report summarises the main findings of the analysis of fossil-fuel subsidy schemes in the six European Union's Eastern Partner (EaP) countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The study updates the 2018 Inventory of Energy Subsidies in the EU’s Eastern Partnership Countries by providing data and estimates for 2016‑19. The analysis focuses on measuring two major types of fossil-fuel subsidies: direct transfers of funds to producers and consumers; and tax expenditure. This report also briefly discusses the taxation and energy pricing policies that have had direct or indirect impact on the evolution of fossil-fuel subsidies in the region. Detailed estimates of all individual support measures for each of the six countries are provided in Annexes to the report.
L'emploi informel, défini par l'absence de protection sociale basée sur l'emploi, constitue la majeure partie de l'emploi dans les pays en développement, et entraîne un niveau de vulnérabilité à la pauvreté et à d'autres risques qui sont supportés par tous ceux qui dépendent des revenus du travail informel. Les résultats de la base de données des Indicateurs clés de l’informalité en fonction des individus et leurs ménages (KIIbIH) montrent qu'un nombre disproportionné de travailleurs de l'économie informelle de la classe moyenne reçoivent des transferts de fonds. Ces résultats confirment que les stratégies de gestion des risques, telles que la migration, jouent un rôle dans la minimisation des risques potentiels du travail informel pour les ménages informels de la classe moyenne qui peuvent ne pas être éligibles à l'aide sociale. Ils suggèrent en outre que les travailleurs informels de classe moyenne peuvent avoir une demande solvable d'assurance sociale, de sorte que, si des régimes d'assurance sociale adaptés aux besoins des travailleurs informels leur étaient accessibles, les transferts de fonds pourraient potentiellement être canalisés pour financer l'extension de l'assurance sociale à l'économie informelle.
Informal employment, defined through the lack of employment-based social protection, constitutes the bulk of employment in developing countries, and entails a level of vulnerability to poverty and other risks that are borne by all who are dependent on informal work income. Results from the Key Indicators of Informality based on Individuals and their Households database (KIIbIH) show that a disproportionately large number of middle‑class informal economy workers receive remittances. Such results confirm that risk management strategies, such as migration, play a part in minimising the potential risks of informal work for middle‑class informal households who may not be eligible to social assistance. They further suggest that middle‑class informal workers may have a solvent demand for social insurance so that, if informality-robust social insurance schemes were made available to them, remittances could potentially be channelled to finance the extension of social insurance to the informal economy.
This report analyses planned infrastructure projects, decision-making frameworks related to infrastructure development and strategic planning documents in the six countries of the EU Eastern Partnership: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It compares current investment flows with countries' national development objectives to identify misalignments and provides policy-makers with recommendations to improve the integration of climate change and other environmental concerns into infrastructure development decision-making processes. The report presents a comprehensive overview of infrastructure investment, primarily in the transport and energy sectors, throughout the region and identifies the risks and opportunities emerging from current investment patterns.
Как и во многих странах, пандемия COVID-19 отрицательно сказалась на экономике стран Восточной Европы, Кавказа и Центральной Азии, ответные меры правительств которых заключались в смягчении воздействия пандемии на систему здравоохранения и оказании поддержки затронутым пандемией предприятиям и работникам. В рамках ответных мер, большинство стран ВЕКЦА также реализовали меры, которые могут способствовать достижению экологических целей. Тем не менее многое еще остается сделать, чтобы планы восстановления ускорили переход к «зеленой» экономике, тем самым повышая устойчивость к внешним шокам. В настоящем отчете проводится анализ мер, направленных на борьбу с COVID-19, предпринимаемых в 11 странах ВЕКЦА, на основании их потенциала к ускорению перехода к более «зеленой», стойкой к изменению климата и низкоуглеродной экономике. В рекомендациях предлагаются способы обеспечения содействия усилий правительств восстановлению экономики с учетом целей по борьбе с изменением климата, сохранению биологического разнообразия и расширению природоохранной деятельности.
As in many countries, the economies of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) have been negatively affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Their governments responded by addressing the health impacts and providing relief to affected businesses and workers. Many EECCA countries have also implemented measures that will help advance environmental objectives as part of their rescue and recovery plans. Nevertheless, much more needs to be done to ensure that recovery plans accelerate a green transition, thereby building resilience against external shocks. This policy paper analyses measures related to COVID-19 in 11 EECCA countries based on their potential to advance the transition to a greener, climate-resilient and low-carbon economy. Recommendations suggest ways to ensure that governments align efforts to support economic recovery with their objectives on climate change, biodiversity and wider environmental protection.
The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on public health in the six EU Eastern Partner (EaP) countries remains limited with 187 reported fatalities in the region as of 14 April. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (because of their proximity to Iran) saw the region’s first cases of Covid-19 in late February. Swift containment measures and limited intra-regional mobility have so far helped limit the spread of the virus, and the number of recorded cases remains relatively low in the South Caucasus.
«Индекс экономической политики в сфере МСП: страны Восточного партнерства в 2020 г. Оценка реализации Европейского акта о малом бизнесе» является уникальным инструментом сопоставительного анализа, который позволяет контролировать прогресс разработки и осуществления политики в области МСП в сравнении с передовыми практиками ЕС и международного сообщества. Он основывается на 10 принципах Европейского акта о малом бизнесе (АМБ), который предлагает широкий спектр мер, направленных на оказание поддержки предприятиям. Эти принципы служат руководящей основой для разработки и осуществления политики в сфере МСП. Настоящее исследование является третьим изданием из данной серии. Результаты первых двух исследований были опубликованы в 2012 и 2016 годах. В исследовании 2020 года представлен всесторонний обзор хода реализации десяти рекомендаций закона, а также анализируются успехи, достигнутые странами региона с 2016 года. Кроме того, в исследовании рассматриваются существующие проблемы, затрагивающие МСП в странах ВП, и предлагаются рекомендации по их решению на основе примеров передовой практики ЕС и других стран мира. В издание 2020 года также включена оценка трех новых направлений (защита конкуренции, принудительное исполнение договоров и коммерческая добросовестность), выходящих за рамки политики развития МСП и охватывающих ключевые приоритеты структурных реформ, которые имеют решающее значение для создания равных условий для предприятий всех размеров и форм собственности.
The SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries 2020 – Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe is a unique benchmarking tool to assess and monitor progress in the design and implementation of SME policies against EU and international best practice. It is structured around the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA), which provide a wide range of pro-enterprise measures to guide the design and implementation of SME policies. This report marks the third edition in this series, following assessments in 2012 and 2016. It provides a comprehensive overview of the state of play in the implementation of the ten SBA principles, and monitors progress made since 2016. It also identifies remaining challenges affecting SMEs in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries and provides recommendations to address them based on EU and international good practice examples. The 2020 edition also features a novelty: An assessment of three new dimensions going beyond core SME policy (competition, contract enforcement and business integrity) looking at key structural reform priorities that are critical to establishing a level playing field for enterprises of all sizes and ownership types.
This report assesses the state of Armenia’s sanitation services, which are in poor shape, and proposes ways forward for reforming the sector by: ensuring equitable access by all and identifying solutions that work for the poorest and most remote communities; generating economies of scale and scope, and reducing both investment and operational costs for the efficient delivery of sanitation services; and moving towards sustainable cost recovery for the sanitation sector, by identifying how much funding can be mobilised from within the sector and how much external transfers are required. The state of Armenia’s sanitation services are inadequate, with 51% of the population in rural areas using unimproved facilities, causing direct damage to the environment and exposing inhabitants to health risks, and better access but degraded sewerage-system infrastructure in urban areas, posing health hazards due to potential cross-contamination between sewage and drinking water. According to preliminary estimates, EUR 2.6 billion of investments will be required to meet Armenia’s sanitation needs, with approximately EUR 1 billion needing to be spent in the next 7 to 10 years. Given the country’s current economic situation, this investment will have to be spread over time and targeted to avoid further deterioration of infrastructure and increase of the financing gap.
Interrelations between Public Policies, Migration and Development in Armenia is the result of a project carried out by the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC-Armenia) and the OECD Development Centre, in collaboration with the State Migration Service (SMS) and with support from the European Union. The project aimed to provide policy makers with evidence on the way migration influences specific sectors – the labour market, agriculture, education and investment and financial services – and, in turn, how sectoral policies affect migration. The report addresses three dimensions of the migration cycle that have become an important part of the country's social and economic contexts: emigration, remittances and return. The results of the empirical work confirm that even though migration contributes to the development of Armenia, the potential of migration is not fully exploited. One explanation is that many policy makers in Armenia do not sufficiently take migration into account in their respective policy areas. Armenia therefore needs to adopt a more coherent policy agenda to do more to integrate migration into development strategies, improve co-ordination mechanisms and strengthen international co-operation. This would enhance the contribution of migration to development in the country.
Conveniently located near the world’s fastest growing energy markets, the resource-rich and transit countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia contribute significantly to world energy security. However, shared challenges across the region include aged infrastructure, high energy intensity, low energy efficiency, untapped alternative energy potential and poorly functioning regional energy markets.
This publication highlights the energy policies and sector developments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan during 2013-14 and provides a summary of key recommendations for policy makers in the region.
Energy policy analysis is conducted in line with the INOGATE Programme’s four main pillars of energy development: energy market convergence, energy security, sustainable development and investment attraction. Started in 1996, the INOGATE Programme is one of the longest running energy technical assistance programmes funded by the European Union and works within the policy frameworks of the Baku Initiative and the Eastern Partnership. The INOGATE Programme co-operates with 11 Partner Countries to support reduction in their dependency on fossil fuels and imports, to improve the security of their energy supply and to mitigate overall climate change. It also supports the Eastern Partnership, a joint initiative between the European Union, EU Member States, and the Eastern European and Caucasus countries. Launched in 2009, the Eastern Partnership aims at advancing political association and economic integration.
This publication has been produced with European Union financial assistance provided through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument.